In ancient Egypt, the scarab beetle represented Cancer and symbolized the immortal life of the soul. Later, the crab became associated with Cancer. Both symbols have hard shells that provide security for their interiors, just as the body is a vehicle for the soul. And like the crab who carries its home on its back, you carry memories of home and family with you wherever you go. A water sign, you're sensitive and receptive to emotional stimuli. You rely on your feelings to navigate your path in life and possess incisive emotional perception that verges on the psychic. You're impressionable, and your sensitivity to jarring external forces requires you to constantly reestablish emotional balance to function outside your shell.

SECURITY is your keyword. Memories of your early childhood emotional dependence and parental nurturing - whether optimal or dismal - are a permanent reminder of the importance of feeling safe. Once you get your grip on anyone or anything that makes you feel secure, you want to hold on to it, store it or stockpile it. You form emotional attachments to belongings that have sentimental value and will even accumulate things that you feel you may eventually need through some unforeseen circumstance. When your level of security is undermined, particularly by domestic disturbances, you can lose your equilibrium, becoming irritable, hypersensitive, snappy, unforgiving, self-pitying and brooding.